"1,000 Year" Flood in Colorado

[Howard]

A geyser of water shoots out of a sewer on Canon Avenue in Manitou Springs, Colorado.

Floodwaters flow past a destroyed bridge in Lyons, Colorado.

 

Slideshow: Hwy 34 Destroyed Through Big Thompson Canyon

Walls of water cascading down hillsides caused flash floods across Colorado on Thursday, killing at least three people. The flooding cut off major highways, isolated mountain towns and closed the main campus of the University of Colorado, the authorities said.

“This is not your ordinary disaster,” said Joe Pelle, the sheriff of Boulder County, where two of the deaths were reported.

Longmont's city manager declared a state of emergency Thursday morning as the rapidly rising St. Vrain River and Left Hand Creek effectively cut the city in two.

The rising waters, declared a "500-year flood" by city officials, forced neighborhoods to evacuate and major streets to close,

As heavy rain continued falling late Thursday, homes, bridges and small dams built along the mountains that bisect the state collapsed, succumbing to rushing floodwaters and record levels of rainfall. Mudslides swept down hillsides left treeless by recent wildfires. Firefighters made dozens of rescues as cars were overtaken by rain-swollen creeks and roads suddenly gave way.

Boulder County was hit hardest, with up to 6 inches of rain falling over 12 hours. But flooding was reported all along the Front Range, from Colorado Springs to north of Fort Collins.

Capt. John Burt of the Colorado State Patrol said a storm cell moved over the mountains during the night, headed east over the Plains, then circled back around. The National Weather Service warned of an "extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation" throughout the region as the flooding forced people from their homes and caused mud and rockslides in some areas.

"Move to higher ground now. Act quickly to protect your life," the Weather Service warned throughout the morning.

Boulder Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Gabrielle Boerkircher said many roads were blocked and volunteers were trying to help stranded people until emergency crews could arrive.

Boerkircher told The Associated Press one person was killed when a structure collapsed in the tiny town of Jamestown. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said another person was also found dead in northern Boulder.

"We're trying to get to Jamestown," Boerkircher said of a mountain community northwest of Boulder. "A lot of towns need assistance, and we cannot get through."

Two other structures in the area were also damaged and may have collapsed.

To the south, Colorado Springs spokeswoman Kim Melchor said police conducting flood patrols found a body in Fountain Creek on the west side of the city early Thursday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Kleyla said a 20-foot wall of water was reported in Left Hand Canyon north of Boulder, and a firefighter radioed he was trapped in a tree. He said rescuers were trying to get through, but were blocked by debris.

In Broomfield, U.S. Highway 287 collapsed when a culvert washed out, dumping three vehicles into the rushing water. Three people were rescued and had minor injuries.

Near Lyons, about 2 feet of water was standing on U.S. Highway 36 as a normally shallow creek known for trout fishing flooded its banks.

At least one earthen dam gave way southeast of Estes Park, the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, and water levels could rise downstream as authorities release more water to keep more dams from giving way.

A National Guard helicopter requested to help pull people from their homes hasn't been able to take off because of fog and low cloud cover throughout the area.

Flash flood warnings were issued for multiple counties in the region, including Jamestown and the Fourmile wildfire burn area.

Flash flood emergencies were also issued downstream from the Front Range mountain areas, including Fort Lupton, Dacono, Plateville and other farming areas as debris piled up near bridges.

An evacuation center for the mountain residents has been sent up in nearby Nederland, officials said.

Meanwhile, about 400 students in a dorm at the University of Colorado in Boulder were evacuated and classes were canceled Thursday and Friday because of the flooding.

Mudslides and rockslides were reported in several areas, with parts of U.S. 6, Boulder Canyon, Colorado 14 and U.S. 287 all reporting problems and temporary blockages during the evening Lefthand Canyon was reported blocked by one of the many slides.

Boulder police dispatchers were receiving calls of flooded homes and streets and submerged cars.

One volunteer fire crew was stranded on a mountainside after a wave of rainwater abruptly washed out a road, the authorities said.

Much of the worst of the flooding Thursday appeared to be in Boulder, where the university canceled classes Thursday and Friday and some 500 students and staff members were ordered evacuated. Dozens of buildings have been damaged, the university said, including the school’s theater and the Norlin Library.

A message posted on the university’s Web site Thursday announced: “Wall of water coming down Boulder Canyon. STAY AWAY FROM BOULDER CREEK.”

But the warning did not dissuade some people from flocking there. They stood on bridges marveling at the torrent of fast-moving brown water as it swept away anything in its path.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Ryan Corbett, 24, a student who was among the onlookers. “I’ve lived here for seven years. This is unreal.”

A few miles north, a 50-yard wide portion of Route 36 was submerged as a stream bed overflowed and coursed by at 1,000 cubic feet per second, said Anne Reid, a firefighter with the Lefthand Fire Protection District.

“This is usually just a little stream that you wouldn’t even think to fish in,” Ms. Reid said.

The flooded highway has cut off residential areas for the foreseeable future, sweeping up whole willow and cottonwood trees as if they were twigs. John and Billie Brumder, who live across from the Crestview Estates neighborhood, said they were awakened at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday by the frightening sound of large rocks being dragged along the creek bed.

“When I heard that, I knew it was a big deal,” he said. “I knew we had to get out of there.”

Their car, which was already partly submerged, stalled, Mr. Brumder said, but they were able to escape in their pickup truck.

The authorities said Thursday afternoon that they expected the death toll in the state, currently at three, to rise.

One person drowned and a second person was killed when a structure collapsed in the town of Jamestown, northwest of Boulder. The third victim was found in Colorado Springs by police officers conducting flood patrols.

Rain had been falling in the Boulder area since Monday, but picked up significantly on Wednesday evening, causing mudslides in Colorado’s Front Range, where since 2010 wildfires have denuded some areas of trees and brush that would have normally helped soak up the moisture.

Dozens of streams and creeks overflowed, and downstream, portions of Colorado Springs and Denver flooded, as well as large parts of Boulder. The National Weather Service reported that more than 6 inches of rain had fallen in a 12-hour period. Forecasters predicted that the rain would continue into Friday.

According to provisional data from the United States Geological Survey, parts of Boulder Creek reached flood levels that have a 1 in 100 chance of occurring in any given year — what some refer to as a 100-year flood.

Sylvia Tawse, who owns a vegetable and flower farm in Longmont, said her husband got a call at 3 a.m. from the local fire chief, warning that a 20-foot wall of water was barreling down nearby Left Hand Creek. Ms. Tawse’s property, nestled among a patchwork of family farms about 10 miles north of Boulder, was spared. But her neighbors were not so lucky.

“We’re on slightly higher ground, so we’re not in danger,” she said. “But their farm fields are completely underwater.”

Ms. Tawse said that by early Thursday, Left Hand Creek, typically barely a trickle, had swollen into a raging rush of muddy water.

“We had a bad flood here in 1995,” she said. “But this is worse than that.”

Sources

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/13/us/colorado-towns-are-left-strand...

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-colorado-floods-up...

http://www.timescall.com/longmont-local-news/ci_24072748/longmont-e...

[KM]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24068804

Colorado flooding death toll rises as thousands warned to evacuate

The death toll from severe flooding in the US state of Colorado has risen to four, as authorities warn thousands to evacuate Boulder and outlying areas.

The body of an unidentified Boulder woman was found after she was swept away from her submerged vehicle on Thursday, authorities have said.

All Boulder County officers were closed on Friday as rainfall was expected to continue overnight.

As many as 80 people remain unaccounted for, officials say.

Days of heavy rain have caused severe damage to property and forced the rescue of more than 2,500 people, Boulder County authorities have said.

More than 15in (38cm) of rain - nearly half the region's annual average - has fallen in a single week, according to the National Weather Service.

President Barack Obama has signed an emergency order approving federal disaster aid for Boulder County.

Towns such as Jamestown, Lyons and Longmont are said to have been reduced to islands by the swirling floodwaters.

'Biblical'

Officials set up road blocks to prevent some residents fleeing in their vehicles over submerged or debris-strewn roads.

The raging torrent has prevented rescue crews from reaching communities stranded downstream.

Lyons resident Howard Wachtel joked to the Associated Press news agency: "This is more like something out of the Bible. I saw one of my neighbours building an ark."

Some 4,000 people living along Boulder Creek were sent notices warning them to move to higher ground late on Thursday, reported Boulder's Daily Camera newspaper.

Another 500 inhabitants of Eldorado Springs were urged to leave due to a threat from South Boulder Creek, an official told the Associated Press early on Friday.

Low-lying areas beyond the Rocky Mountains were also at risk, with up to 3,000 people already ordered to leave the Commerce City district of Denver...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24068804

[Howard]

Historic Flooding Continues, National Guard Rescues Entire Town (Sept 13)

Four people were dead and thousands were being evacuated on Friday as flood waters raged through parts of Colorado and the National Guard used military vehicles in a small town to rescue up to 2,000 residents.

Residents brought "their suitcases and their precious household items along with their pets and everything, all getting loaded in the back of these vehicles," said Colorado National Guard spokesman First Lieutenant Skye Robinson.

'It's got to be the largest storm that I can imagine in the state's history': Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper.

"Please know we're working hard," Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle told residents who might see his televised news conference. "We're concerned about you. But you're going to have to be patient. Please know this is an unprecedented event."

President Barack Obama declared an emergency for Boulder, Larimer and El Paso counties, FEMA announced Friday. The declaration allowed FEMA to bring in four rescue teams, the largest ever deployment in Colorado, officials said.

More heavy rain is forecast through Sunday for the region, on top of the 15 inches some parts of the state have already received.

"This isn't over," CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.

On Friday, National Guard troops using "high-profile" trucks to wade through water were evacuating the entire Boulder County town of Lyons, which had been cut off since the flooding began Wednesday night.

Four helicopters were being used for rescues in Boulder County Friday, Pelle said. The sheriff said helicopters also may have to be used indefinitely to deliver food and water to residents along damaged rural roads.

About 80 people in Boulder County have been reported missing or "unaccounted for" by relatives, Sheriff's Cmdr. Heidi Prentup said.

In Larimer County to the north, Sheriff Justin Smith surveyed the heavily damaged Big Thompson Canyon by air Friday. Some people remain stranded in homes there, he said, adding, "How we're going to get them out -- it's going to take a damn long time."

Smith described widespread damage to roads. He estimated 17 miles of Highway 34, a major artery, will need to be rebuilt.

As other Lyons evacuees arrived at a shelter set up in a church in nearby Longmont, they told stories of houses ripped swept off their foundations as the St. Vrain Creek turned into a violent river, CNN affiliate KMGH reported.

KMGH reporter Theresa Marchetta said evacuees also described homes dangling off cliffs.

Some people in Lyons still were awaiting rescue, evacuees said, and some residents had chosen to stay. Marchetta said evacuees told her there had been a town meeting and residents were checking on each other to ensure no one was missing.

State transportation officials issued an emergency alert to residents in some of the hardest-hit counties, warning them to stay off roads because many are unstable and could give way without notice. They also closed Interstate 25 from the Wyoming line south to Denver. Part of Interstate 70 also was shut down.

In Fort Collins, some residents had been urged to leave their homes. And in Denver, police responded when a man was swept into a drainage pipe with his dog. Both were saved after traveling two blocks in the water.

Lyons rescue

The National Guard effort to get residents out of Lyons began shortly after daybreak. About 100 troops in 21 heavy vehicles able to ford high waters streamed into the city to begin moving residents out, Gov. John Hickenlooper said.

Residents had been entirely cut off, without water or sewer service, in many cases without electricity, facing what Fire Chief J.J. Hoffman said in a Facebook posting was a "very large disaster."

It was unclear when the evacuation would be complete.

"I encourage all of you -- stay strong!" Hoffman wrote on the fire department's Facebook page. "We will make it through this, we are here for you and doing the absolute best we can with the resources we have to get to each and every one of you!"

Lyons follows fellow Boulder County towns of Jamestown and Eldorado Springs to be evacuated as a result of the storm, which began around 6 p.m. Wednesday, Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle said.

While the forecast called for less rain Friday than the region had received the last few days, meteorologists warned that any rainfall would add to the flooding potential in the region, thanks to waterlogged ground unable to absorb any more water. A flash-flood warning remained in effect through noon.

Danger elsewhere

Overnight, flood sirens sounded in Boulder County as Colorado emergency officials feared that debris-caked canyons might give way and send another wall of water crashing through the city of Boulder and neighboring communities.

"All residents are warned to go to higher ground immediately due to the potential for flash flooding along the creek," Boulder's Office of Emergency Management said.

Emergency management warned that "there are mudslides at the mouth of Boulder Canyon 400 feet long and four feet deep as the sides of the canyon give way due to the saturation from the days-long rain."

Gov. John Hickenlooper warned an extensive recovery is ahead.

"This is not going to get fixed in a week," he said. "We have lost a great deal of infrastructure."

Sources

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/13/us/flooding-colorado/index.html?hpt=h...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/13/us-usa-colorado-flooding-...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/13/us/flooding-colorado/index.html?hpt=h...

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/boulder-colorado-floodin...